Enemies
by stockcarrot
Summary: As much as they'd like to, neither Anastasia Amell, nor Nathaniel Howe can deny the growing tension, and possible attraction, blossoming between them. - Just a one shot.


** Dragon Age (and everything to do with it) belongs to Bioware, I am just embellishing some of their characters, along with my own, to create some short stories. Enjoy. (:**

Anastasia stood still as a statue in the Throne Room of Vigil's Keep. Her arms were folded tightly over her chest, and her auburn eyebrows were pulled together as she stared at nothing in particular, completely lost in thought.

Things had not been going as planned since her arrival at the Keep. First, the talking darkspawn that she still wasn't sure was even real, then the conscription of the cheeky apostate that she couldn't stand to see sent back to the circle. And then there was Nathaniel Howe. Sure, he had wanted to kill her at first, but so had Zevran - though their reasons had been completely different.

But as they spent time together, Anna began to understand that Nathaniel didn't so much hate her, just hated what his father had become. In a very short amount of time, his family went from being respected nobles of Ferelden, to traitors. And poor Nathaniel hadn't even been there to se the change. He came back home, only to find that he had no home left to claim.

Her heart ached for him. She could see it in his eyes, sometimes. When all of the rage and hate dissolved at the end of the day, there was nothing but pain, and disappointment, and regret left. He blamed himself, as if his presence would have stopped his father from going mad. He even spoke of it to her sometimes. But then he'd remember that she was his enemy, and would go on binges where he completely ignored everyone and kept to himself. And it broke her heart.

Anastasia frowned at this sudden revelation of her feelings. Nathaniel had expressed nothing but contempt and resentment towards her, and made it _very_ clear that they would never be more than fellow Grey Wardens. But it seemed she had a knack for falling for men who felt nothing for her in return.

A dull pain throbbed at the very back of her heart as a memory of Alistair flashed through her mind. How quickly he had cast their love aside when he was mad King. And she was left with the pieces of her broken heart, and the Grey Warden order to rebuild on her own.

She sighed, shoving these thoughts out of her mind. There were darkspawn to deal with, and she needed to get her head back where it needed to be.

"I thought I might find you here."

Anastasia spun around quickly, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth as he saw Anders approach. She had to admit - having a fellow mage around had made the recruiting process a little easier. Even if he was a little rambunctious and never took anything seriously.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, letting her arms fall to her sides, and her body relax.

He shook his head emphatically. "No, no. Nothing's wrong. Just wondering why our fearless leader wasn't in the dining hall while dinner was being served. I'll tell you, you missed quite the spectacle earlier. Oghren was drunk - as usual - and tried to grab Velanna's, um, _hind quarters_. To which she retaliated by setting his chair on fire. Then Sigrun dumped the whole pitcher of water on him, and, well… It was just a giant mess."

Anastasia raised her eyebrows incredulously. "Sounds like I missed all the fun" she replied, snickering at the image that flashed through her mind.

"You could call it that, sure" he replied, sighing. "Little Howe didn't seem to be enjoying himself, though. He kept playing with that bow you found for him, then stood up suddenly, and stormed out. He didn't even wait for dessert."

Anders gave her a knowing look, and she rolled her eyes.

"What?"

He threw his hands up in the air in surrender. "Nothing, nothing. I just think that our angst-driven rogue likes yo-"

He stopped when the door to the Throne Room suddenly flew open, and Nathaniel marched in. His dark eyebrows were knitted together, and he looked annoyed as he made his way towards Anna and Anders.

"Nathaniel" the dark haired girl said, unable to conceal her surprise. "Is everything alright?"

He avoided her gaze as he stopped in front of them, and looked at Anders.

"I need to speak with the Warden-Commander. Alone."

"Oh!" Anders said, grinning. "Oh, of _course_. I'll just be outside. _Not_ eavesdropping."

The tall blonde man hurried towards the door, smiling at Anastasia before stepping outside.

Anastasia turned her attention towards Nathaniel, tilting her head as she watched him pace the floor in front of her.

"Nathaniel?" Her voice was soft, concerned, and he stopped dead in his tracks to look at her. "Are you alright?"

He stared at her for a long moment, and she could see the emotions flashing through his blue eyes. But his face finally softened, and he let out an exasperated sigh.

"Actually, as it just so happens, I'm _not_ alright" he finally said. He took to pacing the floor again. "You know, I have every right to hate you. _Every right_. You _killed_ my father, and our family name is nothing more than a sour reminder of what people will do for power."

He paused, looking into her green eyes.

"Nathaniel -"

He held up his hand.

"The thing is" he said, taking a step to close some of the distance between them. "You keep surprising me. You're kind, and you do kind things for _me_. Like taking me to see my sister, and finding my grandfather's bow…" He stopped again, turning away from Anastasia's gaze.

She reached out, touching his arm gently.

"You don't deserve to suffer for your father's wrong-doings" she said softly. He looked at her gently face, a feeling he'd been fighting settling over him. "_You're_ a good person."

"Warden-Commander - uh, Anna…" He reached out, his hand hovering above the hand that she'd laid on his arm, before he let it drop. There was a long pause, during which Nathaniel cast his gaze to the floor. But then he looked up, and suddenly closed the gap between them, giving into the tug in his heart.

"No matter how much I tell myself that I'm supposed to hate you" he said, his voice low, and husky, and a chill ran down Anna's spine as she felt his breath in her ear. "I still find myself thinking about you every night before I go to sleep, and longing to see you as soon as I wake up. Every time you get struck in combat, I feel like my heart is ripping in half. And when you go out without me, I'm beside myself, waiting for you to get back."

He stopped speaking, reaching out and cupping her soft cheek in his hand. She closed her eyes, leaning into his touch. She opened her eyes as he pulled her small body into his.

"Anna, I -"

She shushed him, placing her delicate finger on his lips. Nathaniel smiled down at her, running his hand through her soft auburn curls.

"I feel the same way" she murmured, before he leaned down and covered her lips with his.


End file.
